There were four major dictators around the time between WW1 and WW2. Vladimir Lenin was one. Known as Lenin, he was elected as Chair of the Council of People’s Commissars in 1917. Lenin created a secret police called the Cheka to secure the new Bolshevik government. The Cheka made sure nobody would get in the way and kept public newspapers from saying anything about Lenin that Lenin didn’t want. Lenin died from a stroke in 1924. Josef Stalin rose to power after the death of Lenin in 1924. During Stalin’s rule, “Stalinism” was created; he called himself a Marxist but accepted the term. Stalin created the “five year plan” which insisted on in five years things will be better, four of these five year plans were made. In 1932 Stalin came up with the “Great Purge” in where all the non loyal members of the government were killed. Stalin didn’t want anybody that saw wrong in the way he ruled and speak out. Because he killed all of the smart people there were not many people to stop him. After the Great Purge all the old communist party members were gone and all that was left were Stalin followers, increasing Stalin’s power in the country to semi-god. Stalin also created the Gulag which were very brutal work camps. Over 18 million people passed through the camp from being late to work, petty theft, saying something bad about the government, and other small things. Most people died or were deported from these work camps. Stalin under much paranoia from Hitler died of a stroke. Mussolini, prime minister of Italy in 1922 and the Il Duce, the leader, in 1925 dictated his country until 1943. He used fascism and propaganda to earn his power. He controlled the press, radio, and even the education to only express good things about fascism. Another way to keep his power was to create a secret police and the “black shirts” which was a fascist militia. Mussolini at first was anti-imperialist, and then from obtaining his power he became an overly aggressive nationalist. He invaded small countries like Corfu and Libya and even tried to take the Mediterranean sea for his self. He also authorized the use of chemical weapons in the takeover of Ethiopia and kept the chemical attack a secret. Before boarding a plane heading to Switzerland, Mussolini and his wife were spotted by communist partisans, captured, and shot. Adolf Hitler became what he called the Fuhrer of Germany in 1934 through his amazing ability to speak publicly. The Third Reich, when Germany was in a very horrible state after world war one, Hitler told the people he will make it better and explained how. It was very believable and even worked, he gained trust fast. Hitler’s government banned the German communist party and Social Democratic party, while the labor unions and employers federation were put into one organization under Nazi control. Hitler practically erased part of the government, including the German state governments. Starting in 1939, the Holocaust began. This was based off of the belief to kill the “life unworthy of life.” In this holocaust more than 11 million people were killed, 6 million Jews were killed in a destructive genocide that took almost half of the Jewish population off this earth. The holocaust lasted up until 1945. That same year Hitler got married and less than a day later they both committed suicide in his bunker. Kim Jong-Il, the current dictator in North Korea. He like Hitler stepped up when the country was in need of help, except Kim Jong-Il never promised anything to North Korea. After his father, the president, died in 1994 the position of president was abolished and Kim Jong-Il took the position of chairman of the national defense commission. Consequently that is the most powerful spot, making him the head of state. Very similar to Stalin’s Gulags, Kim Jong-Il has “Camp 22” a concentration camp with more than fifty thousand people including children being accused of political crimes. Human rights violations have been reported from the guards of Camp 22. All of the historic dictators had cult of personalities and Kim Jong-Il isn’t going to end that tradition. Most people respect him because of his father or out of fear, his birthday is one of the most important holidays in the country. He is still the current leader of North Korea and because he is not the president no elections will be made to replace him.